Dear Universe,

This week a new term was introduced to me via one of my many television guilty pleasure shows—The Bachelor.  As I was watching, The Bachelor, Ben Flajnik—best known for his flowy locks and love of playing the same David Gray song on piano for every one-on-one date—sent out a date card to his ladies in waiting.  The message hinted that their next group date would be to cross something off his leap list.  Some of the girls sat silently with blank stares—a common occurrence—not sure what this meant.  Thankfully though, the resident laid back hippie, Rachel, read off a flashcard some ABC intern was probably holding up off camera, that a leap list is a list someone makes of all the things one wants to do before taking the next big leap—getting married, having a kid, going on a reality show, etc.

Funnily enough, I then saw Honda’s new commercial which centers off the idea of a leap list.  Apparently this is not a new concept.  It’s just taken me this long to catch on.

Anyway, it got me thinking.  What would my leap list consist of?  Ben wanted to ski on the streets of San Francisco in 80 degree weather and thanks to the magical world of television, he did… along with eleven bikini and mitten clad women.  I am not that adventurous, creative or a bikini skier so I’ll start with some basic things.  (Does it matter if I don’t know what my next leap is?  I’m going to pretend it doesn’t).

I present… My Official Leap List

1. Travel to Italy or Australia or Brazil or all of the above

2. Go back to London for another long stay–that’s a must

3. Study French again to get back to being really good at it—then return to Paris to use it

4.  Work on thinking of cool things to do for my leap list that don’t all pertain to traveling

Okay, so it needs some work, but I love this idea.  It’s kind of like a Bucket List, but not as morbid.

Thank you for letting a guilty pleasure teach me something new.  Now when I tell people I religiously watch The Bachelor and they laugh/eye roll I can respond by saying it’s educational and inspiring.  Go figure.

Much Thanks,

A